Paint tray

ABSTRACT

A paint tray, for use with a paint roller or the like, including substantially coplanar front and rear edges, a paint well adjacent to and below the rear edge for storing a supply of paint, and an inclined surface tapering upwards from the well to the front edge for rolling excess paint off the roller. The tray includes a small relatively thin support member secured adjacent to the well to form a holder for supporting at least one portion of the paint roller above the well thereby allowing excess paint from the roller to drip back into the well.

United States Patent 1 Hawk 1 1 PAINT TRAY [75] Inventor: Gary I). Hawk, Iola, Kans.

[73] Assignee: Harding Development Company, Warren, Mich.

122] Filed: July 19, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 380,603

[52] US. Cl 401/121, 15/25706, 248/300, 248/309, 401/123, 401/131 [51] Int. Cl. B44d 3/12 8 Field of Search 15/25705, 257.06;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,798,239 7/1957 Freund 15/25705 2,932,838 4/1960 Ouellette t. 15/25706 3,087,190 4/1963 Werner l5/257.06 X 3,100,313 3/1963 Ernst 15/25706 3,139,188 6/1964 Goetz et a1 15/257.06 UX 3,241,175 3/1966 Johnson 15/257.06 X 3,593,360 7/1971 Coughlin 15/l04.8 X 3,625,388 12/1971 Golden 248/210 X 1 Mar. 11, 1975 Primary E.raminerDaniel Blum Attorney, Agent, or FirmCullen, Settle, Sloman & Cantor {57] ABSTRACT A paint tray, for use with a paint roller or the like, including substantially coplanar front and rear edges. a paint well adjacent to and below the rear edge for storing a supply of paint, and an inclined surface tapering upwards from the well to the front edge for rolling excess paint off the roller, The tray includes a small relatively thin support member secured adjacent to the well to form a holder for supporting at least one portion of the paint roller above the well thereby allowing excess paint from the roller to drip back into the well.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PAINT TRAY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I Conventional paint trays, for use with rollers in applying paint to wall surfaces, are made of cardboard or metal in a roughly rectangular shape. The tray typically has a depression or well near one end into which the painter pours a supply of paint. The well terminatess in an inclined surface upon which the painter may roll the paint roller to remove excess paint therefrom.

When the tray is being utilized, it is necessary to firmly support the tray. Otherwise, as quite often happens, the tray may slip or slide and the paint will spill out.

During periods of non-use of the roller, the painter conventionally places the roller upon the tray with the paint applying portion resting on the inclined surface. All too often, the paint roller flips out of the tray or rolls into the well causing paint to splash out. In the event that neither of these undesirable results occur, storage of the roller on the inclined surface tends to flatten one side of the roller surface which is usually manufactured of a wool-like material or flocking or the like.

Finally, when the time comes to clean and store the paint tray, storage is normally accomplished by merely placing the tray on a shelf or the like. This occupies unnecessary space because of the irregular shape of the tray.

Thus, it is desirable to provide a paint tray which may be securely fastened to a stand, a tray which includes an improved mechanism for holding a paint roller during periods of non-use, and a tray which may be conveniently stored after use.

In providing these features for a paint tray, several factors must be appreciated. First, the painter normally has several tools and each additional, independent tool merely adds to. the bulk which the painter must carry from job location to job location. Thus, an independent paint roller stand is impracticable. Second,'paint trays and the like are typically inexpensive and have a short useful life and it is extremely important that additional features for paint trays be relatively inexpensive.

Third, any feature added to a paint tray must not interfere with the primary function. of the tray, namely, a paint reservoir for use with a paint roller in applying paint to a surface.

Hence, the invention herein relates to an improvement in conventional paint trays, namely, means for supporting a roller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention herein relates to providing a simple in-.

expensive clip as part of a painttray, which clip serves to support and hold at leastpart of the roller above the well of the paint tray during periods of roller non-use. The clip must be extremely inexpensive and must hold the paint roller in such a way that no flattening occurs to the paint applying portion of the roller.

Theimprovements to the paint tray of the present in vention are extremely inexpensiveand do not materially add to the cost of the tray which is a very important factor in this type of competitive disposable device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify corresponding parts:

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a paint tray having a paint roller support or clip according to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end view seen in the direction of arrows 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates the use of the roller support for storing the paint tray;

FIG. 4 shows a particular type of paint roller;

FIG. 5 shows a support member for holding the paint roller of FIG. 4 over the well of the paint tray;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged illustration of the clip of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional paint tray 10 having a front edge or surface 12 and a rear edge or surface 14, which are substantially coplanar, and having side walls 16 and 18. The tray includes a well portion positioned adjacent to and below the rear surface 14 for the storage of paint or the like and an integral inclined surface 22 tapering upward from the paint well 20 to the front surface 12. v

The paint tray includes a peripheral outwardly ex-- tending, lateral flange 24, and front and rear hand holds 26 and 28 in the coplanar front and rear surfaces, respectively. The hand holds may be utilized for carrying the tray from one location to another and is especially beneficial when there is a supply of paint in the well. The rear surface 14 of the tray also includes a plurality of apertures 30.

Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a conventional paint roller 32 having a paint applying portion 34, a bent Wire or support rod 36 and a handle 38.

Means are provided for supporting-the paint roller on the paint tray. Specifically, a second short flange 40 is provided in the region of the rear surface 14 and the well 20. The second flange 40, which may have multiple sections as at 41, is vertically in a different plane from the main peripheral flange 24.

The vertical spacing between the main flange 24 and the second flange 40 is such that the wire rod 36 may be removably force-fit therebetween. With the rod so positioned, and with the handle 38 of the roller restin'g on the inclined surface 22, one end of the paint applying portion 34 of the roller is suspended above the well. The opposite end may tip down into the well and touch the bottom of the well depending upon the degree of freedom and slippage between the flanges and the rod.

With rod 36 force-fit between the flanges, the roller is supported over the well and is secured against splashing into the well or against tipping outward of the tray. The flange arrangement is totally unobtrusive and does not affect use of the paint tray or roller in any fashion. It should be noted that in the manufacture of a tray having this feature, it is merely necessary to bend down portions of the peripheral flange 24 to form the second flange sections 40 and 41.

Another means for supporting the paint roller is also illustrated in FIG. 1 and includes a wire rod 42 formed into a U-shape and having a wide base 44 and a pair of first legs 46. The first legs are bent into an S-shape and extend from the base of the rod to form a pair of second legs 48.

In operation, the second legs 48 are inserted in the apertures 30 in the rear surface of the paint tray. The a second legs are inserted up to the S portion, at which 3 time the base 44 of the rod extends over the paint well.

The base and the first legs form a support upon which the paint roller may be placed. In this fashion, any paint on the roller will drip down into the well.

When'it is desired to store the paint tray after use, the wire rod 42 is removed from the apertures 30 and inserted into apertures in a conventional pegboard 50 as seen in FIG. 3. The hand hold 28 is slipped over the base 44 of the wire rod and the paint may be suspended in a vertical fashion to occupy a minimum of storage space.

My co-pending patent application Ser. No. 321,539, filed Jan. 5, 1973, now US. Pat. No. 3,832,749, issued Sept. 3, 1974, and bearing the title Self-Standing Paint Roller discloses a type -of roller having a member for storing the roller in an upright position. A roller of this type is shown in FIG. 4 having such a member or a button 52. If paint rollers of this type are utilized, then, according to the present invention, a different support member may be provided for use with the paint tray.

The support member or clip 54, which may be spot welded to the sides of the paint tray' above the paint well, is a generally U-shaped plate having an elongated base 56 with a slot 58 extending part way therethrough. The button 52 of the paint roller is inserted between the base 56 of the clip and the side wall 16 of the paint roller with the rod 36 of the paint roller inserted down through the open end of the slot 58.

In this fashion, an improved paint roller as set forth in my co-pending application may be supported with its handle on the inclined surface of the paint tray and with at least a part of its paint applying portion positioned over the well 20 of the tray.

The foregoing is a description of operative embodiments of the present invention and should not be read in a limiting sense but only as describing the underlying invention concepts. The invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claim.

What is claimed is:

1. In a paint tray for use with a paint roller or the like, said paint roller having a bent wire rod supporting a paint applying portion at one end and having a handle at the other end, said bent wire rod including a self standing paint roller button, said paint tray including substantially coplanar front and rear edgs, a paint well adjacent to and extending vertically below said rear edge for storing a supply of paint, and an integral inclined surface tapering upwardly from said paint well to said front edge for rolling excess paint off said paint applying portion whereby excess paint flows into said well, the improvement comprising:

a small relatively thin support member secured to said paint tray, said support member having a flat base with a slot therein, said flat base spaced a slight distance from said paint tray, said slot for receiving a part of the wire rod of said paint roller with said self standing button positioned in the space between said flat base and said paint tray and with the wire rod and paint applying portion on the opposite side of said flat base for supporting and storing the paint applying portion of said roller above the paint well. 

1. In a paint tray for use with a paint roller or the like, said paint roller having a bent wire rod supporting a paint applying portion at one end and having a handle at the other end, said bent wire rod including a self standing paint roller button, said paint tray including substantially coplanar front and rear edges, a paint well adjacent to and extending vertically below said rear edge for storing a supply of paint, and an integral inclined surface tapering upwardly from said paint well to said front edge for rolling excess paint off said paint applying portion whereby excess paint flows into said well, the improvement comprising: a small relatively thin support member secured to said paint tray, said support member having a flat base with a slot therein, said flat base spaced a slight distance from said paint tray, said slot for receiving a part of the wire rod of said paint roller with said self standing button positioned in the space between said flat base and said paint tray and with the wire rod and paint applying portion on the opposite side of said flat base for supporting and storing the paint applying portion of said roller above the paint well. 